Hip hop team develops Halloween themed show

The SBU Hip Hop team collaborated with ASIA and LASO to host a Halloween themed show on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.

Peter Bertoldo, Emily Flynn and Meaghan Tederous came up with the theme and name for the event because they wanted to make each dance representative of a classic Halloween television show or movie.

The three had thrown around a lot of ideas for iconic Halloween films and decided on a select few. They all thought the name, “Halloween Through Your Screen,” would match the concept well and decided to show a trailer for each film depicted prior to the dances.

Senior and one of the coaches of the hip hop team Peter Bertoldo was excited that the show provided an element of nostalgia.

“I think it was a neat way to remind people of their favorite Halloween movies that they return to every October.” said Bertoldo.

The captains came up with the idea for the show and the theme for each dance, working along with the choreographers to determine which themes would be the best and most entertaining.

“I choreographed dances that were in the show,” said senior and show choreographer Kaitlynn Brown. “The choreographers went through countless songs and worked diligently to find choreography that would be interesting and relatable to the show.”

They decided to use dances from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” American Horror Story, The Addams Family, Bettlejuice, Hocus Pocus and Carrie. The choreographers also had a lot of freedom to choreograph dances to how they saw fit and were relatively free to choose the songs.

“For a family-friendly show, we wanted appropriate music, so that was the only restriction. Emily Flynn, the other coach, and I had to approve each song selection along with our advisor, Dr. René Hauser, to ensure that our music wouldn’t upset anyone in the audience,” Bertoldo said.

Sabrina Basile, a sophomore biology major and member of the hip hop team, noted how much time was put into practicing to make sure that the show went smoothly.

“We’ve been preparing since the first couple of weeks, starting Sept. 2 with practices at least Tuesday and Thursday,” said Basile. “But, leading up to the show, sometimes it was every day.”

Not only did the team have to prepare the dances and choreography, but they also had to reserve the Quick Center months in advance for two dress rehearsals and the show. Dance themes also had to be thought out early on so that the team could figure out costumes, lighting, music and which members of the team were in which dances. They also coordinated practice times and locations with ASIA and LASO, so the groups could all have a chance to practice.

“It takes a lot of hard work and dedication from everyone to prepare for each of our shows,” said sophomore and journalism and mass communication major and SBU Hip Hop team member Jordan Vollmer.

You have to be able to make it to practices and be committed whole-heartedly to the team in order to be ready to perform,” said Vollmer.

The proceeds from this show will go towards covering the team’s costs for the semester, including programs and a portion of their costume expenses. Next semester, the hip hop team hopes to donate a portion of their spring show’s proceeds to a charitable cause.